After 4 years of construction, the largest arch bridge in Switzerland was launched for traffic after its official opening, on Thursday, 22th June 2017.

The Bridge Tamina Bofel (Tamina Bridge) is the centerpiece of a connecting road between the towns of Pfäfers and Valens in the region St. Gallen. The bridge is 417 meters long and crosses the Tamina Canyon at a height of 200 meters with a plane concrete arch with a span length of 260 meters and 35 meters high piles.

As the region of the Tamina Canyon near Boefel is protected as conservation area, it was necessary to esteem a good fitting of the bridge into the terrain. In May 2007 a project competition was publicly advertised. The competition gained huge interests beyond the borders of Switzerland. The jury decided for Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner in an anonymous proceeding for the project “Tamina-Arch”.

The steep hillside, the high altitude above the valley floor and the existing geology challenged the Construction team technically and regarding design aspects. The overachieving goal of the design was, to create an engineering masterpiece, which fits gentle and precisely into the terrain and at the same time, develops due to its appearance a distinctive identity.

via Atlas of Spaces